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A method that cells use to communicate and coordinate activities has been confirmed by researchers from Cornell University, Monsanto Co. and Argonne. This work could lead to new drugs to fight such diseases as cystic fibrosis and the bubonic plague, or to new technologies that perform useful environmental tasks such as filtering water.
Biologists have theorized that bacteria communicate by releasing and sensing chemical pheromones to detect their population densities. This activity is termed "quorum sensing."
Using Argonne's Structural Biology Center (SBC), the researchers confirmed this theory. They determined the molecular structure of a key protein -- TraR -- in this interbacterial communication and witnessed how TraR acts as a relay to sense pheromones and then activate genes to create biofilms. A common example of a biofilm is the scum found on ponds.
More than 70 types of organisms are believed to use this molecular "census-taking" process including Yersinia pestis -- the bubonic plague bacterium.
"We believe the quorum-sensing process signals bacteria to create biofilms -- mats of bacterial cells over a solid surface," said Argonne biophysicist Rong-guang Zhang (BIO). Zhang is lead author of an article describing their results in the June 27 issue of Nature. SBC Director Andrzej Joachimiak was the corresponding author of the paper and played a major role in this project.
"To see how these cells communicate," Zhang said, "we crystallized and studied the structure of the TraR protein complexed with pheromone and DNA of the well-known Agrobacterium tumefaciens, an agricultural pathogen that causes tumors in plants." Researchers got a microsecond snapshot of quorum sensing in progress.
Knowing the structure of this important quorum-sensing protein may permit researchers to treat bacterial biofilm-related diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, by creating drugs to block the chemical signals that form biofilms. Conversely, scientists could stimulate the formation of useful biofilms to filter water or perform other useful environmental tasks.
The structural information comes from shining X-rays from the Advanced Photon Source -- the nation's most brilliant source of X-rays -- onto tiny, frozen protein crystals. The X-ray images are captured by a quick electronic camera. Advanced software converts the data into 3-D images biologists use to infer how these proteins work and interact with other molecules.
"The structure," Zhang said, "is the most asymmetrical we have seen for a protein-DNA complex. It is shaped liked a butterfly with its wings bent back."
Pheromones lie fully embedded within the protein. To activate the pheromones, several amino acid residues critical to RNA polymerase activation, or gene copying, make contact with the "butterfly body" of TraR.
-- Evelyn Brown
The Argonne Combined Appeal has kicked off this year's campaign by launching a new Web site.
OPA interns Jodi Genshaft and Katie Williams created the easy-to-navigate site, which covers everything from the history of the campaign to the latest news and pictures.
The site's calendar of events will be updated on a regular basis so employees can stay up-to-date with what is happening.
The Argonne Combined Appeal is an annual campaign that gives Argonne-East employees an opportunity to support nonprofit health and welfare agencies. Employees can donate to one or more agencies through payroll deductions or one-time cash contributions.
The 2002 campaign begins Tuesday, Oct. 1 and ends Thursday, Oct. 31.
Last year, employees donated $418,975.
The recordable injury/illness case rate at Argonne during fiscal year 2002 has decreased 20 percent from last year, according to statistics maintained by Argonne's Environment, Safety, Health and Quality Assurance Oversight Division (EQO).
But Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) injury/illness statistics are more than requirements and data points on a graph. An OSHA "recordable" represents a work-related injury or illness so severe that it requires medical treatment, restricted duties or time away from work. Each time an injury or illness is recorded, Argonne line management must evaluate what went wrong in the Integrated Safety Management (ISM) work processes and correct the problem, said EQO Director Adam Cohen.
ISM work processes require that:
all work is planned
hazards are identified
hazard controls are developed and
implemented
work is performed within controls
feedback is used
At Argonne, line management provides support in the work-planning processes so that employee injuries and illnesses are prevented.
Among the ISM resources are:
EQO Subject Matter Experts
Environment, Safety and Health
Division (ESH) Manual and division procedures
The Web site contains safety information organized by topic and links to Argonne's "Feedback and Lessons Learned" site.
"Reviewing the lessons learned prior to the performance of tasks and projects is an important part of the work-planning process," said Will Brocker (EQO). "Knowing what worked well and what went wrong can be used to improve the work planning so that benefits are maximized and detriments are minimized."
Each month, OSHA statistics and trend reports are provided to Argonne management, the Environment, Safety, Security and Health Committee and the division offices.
Quarterly statistics are tracked as a performance measure by the Department of Energy. Employees can view the annual OSHA statistics posted on the ESH information page.
-- Jodi Genshaft
Massimo Salvatores, a senior advisor in Engineering Research Administration, has been awarded the 2002 Ampere Prize by the French Academy of Sciences.
The prize was created in 1974 in honor of the French physicist and mathematician Andre Marie Ampere (1775-1836), best known for defining a way to measure the flow of current, which was named after him. He also laid the foundation for the science of electrodynamics.
The Ampere Prize is given to one or more French scientists who make notable strides in fundamental or applied mathematics and physics.
"It has been a wonderful surprise," Salvatores said. "I felt deeply honored to receive an award which, in my field of research, has previously only been given to Jules Horowitz, the `founding father' of reactor physics in France."
Salvatores received the award for his contribution to the development of a new branch of reactor physics, the Generalized Perturbation Theory. He also developed a technique to link macroscopic data for determining nuclear cross sections.
"I have been lucky throughout my career to have the pleasure to unite what Roland Barthes once defined as `un métier et une passion' -- `a job and a passion," said Salvatores.
In 1963, Salvatores earned his doctorate from the University of Turin. He joined the Italian nuclear energy research agency and moved to the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 1977. In 2002, he retired as a research director, but he still serves as the scientific advisor to the director of nuclear reactors at CEA.
-- Katie Williams
"The Al-Qaeda Threat as Viewed from Outside the USA" will be the topic of a talk on Monday, Sept. 16, at 3 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 203 Auditorium.
Speaker Gordon Woo, a catastrophe risk analyst with Risk Management Solutions Inc., will review al-Qaeda strategy and its implications for safeguarding nuclear facilities and radiological material in the United States. Woo is the author of "The Mathematics of Natural Catastrophes."
The seminar is sponsored by Energy and Environmental Science and Technology.
September's First Friday Forum will be held Sept. 6 at noon in Argonne-East's Building 201, Room 190.
Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz (TD) will present the results of a survey developed by the members of the Women in Science and Technology Re-evaluation Subcommittee to learn the current needs of women at Argonne.
The First Friday Forum is an informal gathering of Argonne women usually held on the first Friday of the month. The group explores career and gender issues related to women. Meetings are open to all Argonne and U.S. Department of Energy employees.
Friday "seafood celebrations" at the Argonne Guest House begin Sept. 6.
Lunch and dinner will include seafood entrees like crab cake sandwiches, crawfish jambalaya and peel-and-eat shrimp, along with a soup and salad bar. "Land-based" entrees also will be available.
Holiday hours
The Argonne Guest House Restaurant will offer breakfast buffet Saturday, Aug. 31, Sunday, Sept. 1 and Monday, Sept. 2. It will close each day at 11 a.m.
The 401 Grill holiday hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on each of the above dates.
University provosts and vice presidents for research met with representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, including Director Ray Orbach, at Argonne-East Aug. 8. The meeting gave university decision-makers a chance to learn about DOE research initiatives and discuss policies and issues affecting fundamental science and university research.
John Bahcall, a world leader in the field of neutrino astrophysics, will present Argonne's second annual Enrico Fermi Lecture at 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 12, in Argonne-East's Building 362 Auditorium.
In his talk "How the Sun Shines," Bahcall will summarize developments that led to theories of how the sun produces energy and recent discoveries about neutrinos from the sun.
This program is the second in a series of annual lectures in honor of Enrico Fermi, the founding director of Argonne, and his renaissance spirit.
Beginning Sunday, Sept. 1, a new feature will be added to all 10 Web-based Environment, Safety and Health training courses. For those who have Argonne domain accounts, this new feature will automatically score the electronic exam and immediately update successful completions on the employee's Training Management System profile.
There will be no more need to fax training completion forms to EQO-Training.
Access to the Web-based training authentication and test functions will require an Argonne domain account, which is used to identify and authenticate the employee taking the test and provide an added layer of security.
An automated "look-up" feature is built into each Web-based course to notify the test-taker whether he or she can use the new function.
About 80 percent of laboratory employees have such accounts, which are used in a growing number of applications. Argonne domain accounts are available free of charge from Electronics and Computing Technologies; call ext. 2-8100 or contact a division Training Management System (TMS) representative for more information.
Employees who do not have, or do not want, an Argonne domain name but still want to take advantage of the flexibility of computer-based training should contact their TMS representatives.
All training at Argonne-East for those without Argonne domain accounts must be completed in the training facility in Building 202.
Argonne's retirement vendors will visit Argonne-East during September to meet with employees and answer questions about their retirement plans and assets.
To schedule an appointment, call the number listed.
Fidelity: Tuesday, Sept. 10, and
Tuesday, Sept. 24. Call (800) 642-7131.
TIAA-CREF: Thursday, Sept. 12, and
Friday, Sept. 13. Call (800) 842-2005.
Prudential: Wednesday, Sept. 4, and
Wednesday, Sept. 18 (Half-day appointments). Call Cheryl at (847) 619-3519.
A Social Security representative will be available in Argonne-East's Human Resources office, Building 201, Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 8 a.m. to noon.
To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.